CPU frequency scaling in Ubuntu

I've managed to activate CPU frequency scaling of my SI1520's Core 2 Duo processor in Ubuntu Feisty.
Everything passes through the CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor Gnome applet, which must be reconfigured to enable manual CPU frequency scaling.

The shell command to do this is:

$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure gnome-applets

You will have to answer “Yes” to the question regarding setting the suid of the cpufreq-selector executable. Now you can left click on the CPU Frequency Monitor Applet and choose the CPU frequency and/or operative mode (Conservative, Ondemand, Powersave, Performance).

Windows Vista Activation Failed

I booted Windows Vista about one hour ago and was greeted by a warning that my copy of Windows is not "Genuine".
Considering that it came with the laptop, that I paid for it, and that it has a "Genuine Windows Product" sticker on its back, isn't all this shocking? And isn't it just another demonstration of how poorly Microsoft respects their customers?
I understand that piracy is a common problem and that it hurts the industry (although I sometimes wonder how much it really hurts, considering Microsoft's income), but these anti-piracy measures are insane. They only affect honest customers, since those who use pirate copies of these softwares have probably cracked their copy and will never be affected by these anti-piracy thingies.
I'm sure the misunderstanding will be solved as soon as I manage to call the 800 number provided, but still I wasted almost an hour trying to re-activate my legitimate copy of Vista, which is not able to recognize itself as such.
Thank God for Ubuntu.